


broken roofs

by questionableatbest



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 12:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13318497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/questionableatbest/pseuds/questionableatbest
Summary: The customer was always right, even if the customer was a beautiful, nonsensical hipster, who was fixing a roof for fun.ORnursey is a very popular author who moves to dex's small town to look for inspiration for his next book, and the two of them end up spending a lot of time together when nursey takes up home renovation





	broken roofs

**Author's Note:**

> i know nothing about building and i did 0 research so if you're reading past this you're hereby agreeing to suspend all knowledge that you may have and just go with whatever mistakes i may or may not make

Out of his three jobs, Will liked working at his uncle’s hardware store the least. He didn’t hate it, but he did hate how boring afternoon shifts got, and he hated not having anything to do. He was making money while he was there but it still felt like he was wasting time, when there were so many other things he could be doing.

Realistically, there weren’t actually many other things that he could be doing, mid-fall in his summer vacation destination small town, but that was beside the point.

The point was, was that Will was bored and it was a slow day, so, when he ran out of things to do on his phone, he grabbed one of the books his aunt stored behind the counter, and thumbed through it.

He’d never been a huge fan of reading and he’d only gotten a few chapters into the book, when the bell above the shop door rant, and he was startled into looking up. He was surprised by how irritated the interruption made him, but when he actually saw the man who interrupted him, his irritation faded into something else entirely.

The man in question was beautiful in every way imaginable, and he was definitely from out of town, because Will knew everybody in town and he wouldn’t have forgotten this guy. He looked like he was straight out of a magazine, with stubble covering his cheeks and dark green eyes that were just on the right side of piercing. He looked like he was about Will’s height and build, which wasn’t exactly common, but was definitely intriguing.

He really was beautiful, but he was also staring at the book in Will’s hands with a strange look on his face, so Will closed it and said, “Hey, can I help you with anything?” trying to ignore how warm his cheeks felt.

The man’s confused (or was it concerned? Worried? Alarmed? Will really didn’t know) expression gave way to an easy smile, as he took a step towards the counter and said, “Maybe?” pursing his lips while Will raised his eyebrows, before he asked, “What do you know about repairing roofs?” and Will blinked.

“Besides the phone number of some very reputable professionals, not much,” he said, and it got a laugh out of the man that was just a tiny bit distracting, but not enough so that Will got sidetracked. “Why?”

“My roof's got a few leaks in it,” the man said, and Will had figured that much, so he just waited for a more elaborate response. “I like DIY.”

“You like-” Will cut himself off, and tried to give the man the benefit of doubt. “Do you have much experience with building repairs or anything like that?”

“None whatsoever,” the man said, like it wasn’t cause for concern, before he held up his phone and added, “I did find a very helpful wikihow article, though.”

Will stared at the man for a few moments, because he wasn’t sure what else to do. Most of their customers were regulars, who worked odd jobs around town fixing things and keeping their properties maintained- it was very rare that they got novices. “A wikihow article?” he finally repeated, and the man nodded.

“A very helpful one,” he added, and Will didn’t know what to make of his smile that almost seemed like a tease, but then the man went on with, “I was mostly just hoping you could help me find some supplies?” and Will nodded, because he could do that.

“You got a list?” he asked, and the man unlocked his phone and closed the distance between himself and the counter before he handed it over, revealing the infamous wikihow article. Will read it over a few times and everything in it seemed doable for an amateur, so he stopped himself from recommending actual roofers again and instead just asked, “Do you have any of this stuff?”

“Besides the broken roof?” the man asked, and this time he was standing close enough to Will that he could see the crinkle at the corner of his eyes when he smiled, and Will had to purse his lips to keep himself from mirroring the expression.

“Besides the broken roof,” he agreed, and the man pursed his lips as well.

“I’ve got a ladder,” he said, and Will blinked.

He half expected the man to go on but, when he didn’t, Will asked, “That’s it?” and the man shrugged.

“I’m kind of… new in town, and I didn’t bring much,” he explained, and Will’s brow furrowed.

“Do you have a landlord who should be doing this?”

“Nah, I kinda just bought the place- I wanted a good fixer-upper, you know?”

Will did not know, and he was pretty sure he conveyed that in the skeptical way he said, “Right,” because the man’s expression fell for the first time in their conversation, and it made Will feel guilty immediately. “When I’m not here I work at a garage, so I don’t really go looking for things to fix in my spare time,” he explained, and the man’s mouth quirked up on one side.

“That’s fair,” he said, and then he glanced towards his phone that was still cradled in Will’s hands, and Will was reminded of the fact that he was still at work, so-

“We should have most of what you need- just follow me,” he said, sliding around the counter and grabbing a basket for supplies. 

He took them to the tools first, grabbing some scrapers and hammers and other things that seemed necessary, before he stopped in front of their small section of shingles.

“If these don’t look like they’ll match, we can order some in,” Will offered, only a little bit disappointed when the man shook his head.

“These are cool,” he said, running his hands over a dark brown one, before he glanced at a deep red as well. “The place is kind of already mismatched, so I think I’ll get some of each and just kinda do what feels right.”

Coming from this particular man based on what Will already knew about him, that almost made sense. Of course, almost was the key word there, but Will let it go. The customer was always right, even if the customer was a beautiful, nonsensical hipster, who was fixing a roof for fun.

Will held out the basked and the man put a few piles of shingles in, and then they moved on. They weaved through the store, grabbing what wikihow and common sense told them was needed, and then they were back at the cash register and Will hefted the basked onto the counter.

The basket had gotten heavy and Will had gotten hot, so he rolled up his sleeves and, when he looked up to start ringing things in, he didn’t miss the look on the other man’s face, tracing the movements of Will’s hands.

That was interesting, but Will cleared his throat and the moment passed.

It passed, and Will started scanning their findings, while the other man reached for the book that Will had long since forgotten about.

“Is this any good?” the other man asked, and Will shrugged.

“It’s my aunt’s,” he said, but that didn’t quite do it justice, so he added, “It hasn’t put me to sleep yet,” and when he looked away from the shingles he was sorting, he couldn’t miss the pleased smile on the other mans face. “Do you- uh- have you read it?” he asked, and the man shook his head.

“I haven’t,” he said, with a smile that looked like a secret, and that threw Will off.

“Do you- want to borrow it?” he tried, and the smile grew.

“I thought it was your aunts.”

Will shrugged. “She’s got a bunch by the same guy under here- I’m sure she won’t miss it,” he said, but the man shook his head.

“No, it’s fine,” he said, before he added, “I- actually know the guy who wrote it,” and Will blinked.

“And you haven’t read it?” he asked, and then it was the other man’s turn to shrug.

“Haven’t had time,” he said, and Will’s eyebrows shot up.

“But you have time for a fixer-upper?” he countered, and the man started to smile at that.

“Yup,” he said, before he added, “But let me know if it’s any good, and I’ll read it after you.”

Will was still holding back a smile, but it was getting harder to do so. He knew they were joking, but the promise of seeing the other man again wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but that didn’t stop him from raising an eyebrow and asking, “What makes you think I have time for a book club?”

The other man’s smile grew before he said, “Hope?” and Will snorted.

“Good luck with that,” he said, before he rang through the rest of the purchase, and tried not to wince at the price.

The other man paid without a second thought, and then lifted the box that Will had transferred everything into off the counter, like it weighed nothing. He reached out his free hand to shake and said, “I’m Derek, by the way,” when Will accepted.

“Will,” he replied, and Derek smiled.

“Thanks for- all of this,” he said, shifting the box against his hip before he used his free hand to tap the book they’d been talking about twice. He added, “And keep me posted on the book club,” with a smile and something that looked dangerously close to a wink, before he walked out and left Will to wonder what, exactly, had just happened.

It was a few moments before Will shook himself out of whatever trance Derek had induced and actually looked back down at the book, and it was only then that he actually noticed the author’s name.

_ ‘Derek Nurse’ _ was printed in small letters at the bottom, under the significantly larger title,  _ ‘The Stars that Never Align,’ _ and Will told himself that the name was a coincidence, but he didn’t really believe it for a second.

Because of that, when he googled ‘Derek Nurse’ a few moments later, and a picture of the man he’d just been talking to showed up, about a million feelings ran through him, but surprise wasn’t one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you want to read more?


End file.
